HIGHWAY 18 - Slow Play Is Not An Option

[Harry Longshanks]

Although, no matter how you edit it, I don't see how a good golfer suffers from extreme exhaustion while playing a par 3...using a CART!

Never lived in the South, eh?

A day of running around the square, not hydrating, followed by stress and playing a hole 11 times running around could easily lead to heat exhaustion and dehydration in the heat and humidity of Florida heat. EDIT: And having grown up in Texas and gotten heat exhaustion and dehydration myself, I recognized it on Ashely's face the minute they showed her in the cart. The realization that your body is so out of whack that you can't even fathom doing something as simple as pouring water over your head. You can't even move enough to lie down. She just ran herself into the ground. And Ashley was one of the fittest competitors. She was always out in front in the running challenges. I felt really bad for her.

[Harry Longshanks]

LOL! Well, you might be surprised at who's doing the stalking of Harry and another golfguy in here. I just got off the phone with Ashley and Ashleigh and they both had messages for you boys

I just listened to your interview with the Ashes. I.am.so.screwed.

[Tha Fuzzy 1]

Congratulations Charlotte, you and Rob were great throughout.

I'm glad to hear that Ash (not sure which one it is) is okay. Heat exhaustion and dehydration is a dangerous combo. Was there no bottles of water available?

If TGC does this show again, I hope they re-evaluate some of their safety procedures, between Jay's fall and Ash's dehydration, there's been some dangerous situations.

Overall, I enjoyed the show, and I look forward to another season of this if I they do so. Everybody on the show were pretty darn impressive, especially with the added time pressures.

[Awsi Dooger]

Never lived in the South, eh?

I'm from Miami and I can relate to it. I remember coming home from college in California one summer and playing golf with my dad the next day at Key Biscayne. We were in a cart but it didn't help me. By the 16th hole I was out of it, slumped over the wheel. He briefly thought I was kidding.

But that was an example of flying from low humidity to Miami in early June. This case is a bit surprising since Highway 18 was apparently taped in the spring and the Ashleys had been in the Florida climate for an extended period. Regardless, congratulations to Charlotte and Rob. I watched only the first and last episode but the team I preferred won the darn thing. Similar to the Florida/Mississippi game last Saturday. I spent so much time checking the Duramed site this year it seems only fitting to root for members of that tour. For some reason I can't access Gayle's site tonight. One error message after another. Tomorrow, definitely. I want to hear what the Ashleys have to say. I have a question for BlingoQueen. I assume the situation is like the Big Break, with the winnings not distributed until after the result is aired. But if the prize money had been available a month or so ago, would you have invested the 5 grand in Q School? I imagine it would have been tempting.

[iacas]

Although, no matter how you edit it, I don't see how a good golfer suffers from extreme exhaustion while playing a par 3...using a CART!

I've played and lived in Florida, and like Harry said, it can be tough. I was surprised it got to her that quickly as well, but indeed, you never saw her drinking water and you never even saw water in the cart(s).

Maybe...just maybe...if they actually had to run back and fourth. You'd think they were playing for their lives or something. Everything just seems extremely over the top on this show...like they were told they needed to act for the show or something.

They were playing for over $100k. They had one team to beat. Something tells me you'd be running too.

I've got a big match tomorrow and need to sleep but thanks again for keeping me entertained on this forum among others!

Congratulations on your win. It's fitting that the team that never got a strike won the event.

[Smallville]

BlingoQueen -
Congrats on yours and Rob's win on the show. Was hoping it would have come down to you two and the boys but as they were gone early, I'm with iacas in thinking you guys deserved it since you went through the whole show strikeless.

[jacksparrow]

Congrats to Rob and Charlotte on their win. Like many here, I enjoyed the show each week but found a lot of the editing and rule twists/surprises/changes lacking.

Here's my issue with the final challenge. The "rules" of the challenge basically took away any strategy to be employed by the teams.

The challenge was to complete two holes in net one under. So why was it that when both teams completed the first hole, a par 4, in net par they were forced to move on to the second hole. If I'm playing a par-4 and a par-3 for net -1 under, I'm going to play the par-4 until I birdie it and then move to the par 3. But that didn't seem to be allowed.

For example...Charlotte birdied the first hole and Rob bogeyed. Why wasn't Rob allowed to go back and play for par and a net birdie on that hole? Then they would have only each had to par the second hole to complete the challenge. Instead, with a birdie in hand they had to move on to the second hole, and one of them would have to birdie that hole as well.

Then...when working on the second hole for a net-birdie, why were the teams forced to leave just one player playing for birdie just because one player made a par. The players should have been allowed to keep replaying the hole as a team until they made a net birdie. It seems obvious that both Ashley and Charlotte were nearing exhaustion on their 10th, 11th attempts at the hole, and unfortunately it had dire consequences for the A's. I think that the likelihood of one player getting a ball close enough for a birdie putt is exponentially greater when two players are teeing off than when just one player is. This just seemed silly and really took the game out of the team's hands.

The rules just didn't seem to make sense. But I think it can be improved for a second season, and I'll be sure to be watching.

Again, congrats Rob and Charlotte (I was pulling for you all they way)!

[DufferMan]

For example...Charlotte birdied the first hole and Rob bogeyed. Why wasn't Rob allowed to go back and play for par and a net birdie on that hole? Then they would have only each had to par the second hole to complete the challenge. Instead, with a birdie in hand they had to move on to the second hole, and one of them would have to birdie that hole as well.

This strategy could have been implemented- it just seems that in the heat of competition, they didn't think through how they could have done it. The rules said that once they achieved par on the 1st hole, they had to move on.

So by making his bogey putt, the teams had no choice but to move on. But if they had been thinking on their feet, Rob should have double bogeyed the par 4, forcing him to play again until achieving par or better. If Rob had purposefully double bogeyed the 1st attempt, then he could have gone back, made par on the par 4, then they could move on to the par 3- where they both could make par to complete the challenge. That would have been the ideal strategy, but apparently, it didn't occur to them.

Then...when working on the second hole for a net-birdie, why were the teams forced to leave just one player playing for birdie just because one player made a par. The players should have been allowed to keep replaying the hole as a team until they made a net birdie. It seems obvious that both Ashley and Charlotte were nearing exhaustion on their 10th, 11th attempts at the hole, and unfortunately it had dire consequences for the A's. I think that the likelihood of one player getting a ball close enough for a birdie putt is exponentially greater when two players are teeing off than when just one player is. This just seemed silly and really took the game out of the

Again, the strategy that should have occured to them was both players- if they missed their birdie shots on the par 3, both should have purposefully bogeyed so that both players could continue to attempt birdie, rather than force one player to run themselves ragged. Just required a little thinking & strategy- but I can understand that after running all day & being mentally drained... playing golf in the 100+ Key West heat, it didn't occur to them.

[Harry Longshanks]

Along those same lines, the Ashes (in their interview with GolfGal ) indicated that they wish that they had thought to have Ashleigh miss her par putt on the second hole so both could go back and shoot for birdie.

I'm not sure I agree with that. In hindsight it might seem like that would have been a better strategy, but in the heat of the moment (no pun intended - sorry Ashley, I think they made the right decision by having both girls make their pars, and having Ashley continue to shoot for birdie. You never know what could happen. If Ashleigh had fallen like Jay did (or suffered some other injury) after she intentionally missed her par, there would be no way the girls could have won.

In football parlance, "you never take points off the board." It didn't work out for them, but I still think they made the smart decision. Besides, I think Charlotte was right when Rob suggested that she intentionally miss her putt - intentionally missing puts a golfer's mind in a bad place.

[jacksparrow]

This strategy could have been implemented- it just seems that in the heat of competition, they didn't think through how they could have done it. The rules said that once they achieved par on the 1st hole, they had to move on.

This is pretty much what I was thinking. I just didn't like that the rules of the challenge force the "right" strategy to be intentionally missing putts. You get punished for playing good golf rather than being rewarded or just being able to strategize your play.

One thing I'm curious about, and I'm not able to listen to the Golfgal's interviews right now in the event that this is discussed in one of the interviews, but what was the real-time timing of them arriving at the golf course and completing the challenge? I don't recall what attempt Charlotte finally made birdie on, but I know Ashley finally gave out after 11 attempts or something? Charlotte has a comment on her blog about she and Rob thinking something was up when the Ash's weren't at the finish line. Did she have reason to think that they had fallen behind in the challenge even though they got to the course first? IOW...what time did Rob and Charlotte complete the challenge and what time did Ashley finally give out? The editing, of course, makes the timing seem pretty close, but we know that's probably not the case. Just curious.

[JetFan1983]

WOW! Great show! A contestant actually almost died trying to birdie that last hole! What great TV. No way this show is allowed to push their contestants to the brink like that on the next one. Hopefully they keep it though. Charlotte rules!

[BlingoQueen]

All interesting thoughts.. However, we did think of Rob making double... BUT! Rob was having some troubles with his game and was beyond nervous, no telling where he would have hit his next tee shot on that par 4... Therefore, we thought we should just move on rather than intentionally missing. I mean it all worked out but it is easy to think back and say "what if...".. we were all beyond exhausted and drained.. and really couldn't think/see straight.

[underparnv]

Hey...you're supposed to be out playing in a " big match " today!

Kidding aside, I can definitely see where being in the heat of the moment the above wouldn't pop into your head. Heck...I didn't even think about it until these guys posted about it!

Now here is a question that I already pretty much know the answer to, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Do you feel it was a huge advantage to be from the area (or there abouts...) where Highway 18 was filmed? Do you think they should do the next version (if they do one...) in some rural part of the country where none of the participants have any ties to? Just food for thought.

Ok...enough from me. Congrats once again!

P.S. It just registered in my pea-sized brain that you're in Orlando (even though I mentioned it above...I really need more sleep...) so it's 7:00 your time. Duh... I'm outta here now

Update #2 : Could I pretty please get your first ProV1 that you get from Titleist with your signature on it?!?!

[Dub]

All interesting thoughts.. However, we did think of Rob making double... BUT! Rob was having some troubles with his game and was beyond nervous, no telling where he would have hit his next tee shot on that par 4... Therefore, we thought we should just move on rather than intentionally missing. I mean it all worked out but it is easy to think back and say "what if...".. we were all beyond exhausted and drained.. and really couldn't think/see straight.

A wonderful victory....one to be extremely proud of.

[pinhy]

i havent read all the replies here, and i just watched it tonight rather than last night....but my one thought is this:

on the par 3's, i think each team should have kept BOTH of them playing until one made a birdie (ie..miss par putts if they dont have a birdie)...then they would have only had the PAR to get. It would give them 2 opportunities each trip to get a great tee shot or long putt for the birdie rather than just one. then all you need is a par by the other person.

the show was OK....i liked watching the ASH's and Charlotte running all the time (like Joey and Chandler with Baywatch!).

[Doctorfro]

I guess overall I liked the show but it needs a bit of tweaking. Not sure what it would be but somewhere in the middle it got kinda boring. Glad Rob and Charlotte won. Not sure how the girls made it to the finals but I'm sure the producers were glad they did.

[worst_shot_ever]

Well, most of the substantive observations on strategy and so forth have already been made, but a few thoughts:

- Golf Central

For those of you who, unlike the Worst Shot Ever, do not tune in to The Golf Channel fourteen hours a day and may have missed it, Rob and Charlotte appeared on Tuesday's edition of Golf Central. Let's just say that the BlingoQueen hasn't grown any less attractive in the intervening months since H18 was filmed. Woo. That must have been fun; I suppose that makes up a little for the fact that the Ashl*s got to appear in the little flip-up ads all season.

- Episode 10 (or how to kill the competition -- with apologies to Ash D.)

Wow, that really sucked. I found it painful and terrible to watch. I was guessing maybe hamstring or shoulder pull, not near-death heatstroke. I hope her recovery will sort itself out (Jay's too -- what a shame if a promising golfer's shot at playing is limited by something like slipping on a reality show.) Anyway, in honor of the lovely Ash D and her unfortunate fate, I offer the pictorial equivalent of a moment of silence:



Enough of that. Even though this episode was pretty lacking in high levity, there were a couple moments I found interest....

• I loved Ash's "be like Hemmingway, be like Hemmingway, be like Hemmingway" mantra, as if trying to solve a riddle that would reveal the specific location of the bags within the bar. You never know, but this time it was just a throw-away line. For some reason I thought that was pretty funny.
  
• I got a kick out of watching Charlotte try to run with the sprinters. Not real graceful, especially trying to do so with one hand holding the shirt in place. Very modest, Char. Those blonde girls have serious wheels, though. I think they were outsprinting Rob. No surprise that one of them is/was an accomplished skier.
  
• Again Charlotte pulled her head together and refused to be demoralized or let her will be broken. Got to hand it to her, since that wall of mangroves looked forbidding as hell. What a hole to have to birdie. (As an aside, given Zinger's winning strategy at the Ryder Cup was based on the mental game also, I'm beginning to see that competitive golf really turns on the ability to keep your focus beyond almost any other sport I can think of.)
  
• So did Rob and Charlotte get to keep the winning flag after the show? Are they really changing their gear to Titleist? [edit: was it Titleist? Can't remember.] I'd think Charlotte would be nervous to switch clubs given her professional aspirations. I think I'd use the cash to by some brand new Mizunos, then put the equipment package up on e-bay!
  
• The Ashle*s really came around for me in the last few episodes. Not just the effort that Davis put in, but there golf and sense of sportsmanship both seemed to come around. Also, they seemed to drop the initially off-putting charicature they were playing of being blondes, which really doesn't suit them, as day after day the pressure pared them down to their true selves.
  
• I thought the set up for this episode was lame. I wanted something more like match play, and running around a bar looking for bags was just dull TV.

So Highway 18: is this just the beginning? I guess it depends on how relatively popular the show was, but I expect they'll try to do it again. If so, I hope the producers learn something from the reactions in this thread during the season, as I tend to think the show's success came despite some big production missteps. And next time let's not let the kids nearly kill themselves.

[Golfgal]

This is pretty much what I was thinking. I just didn't like that the rules of the challenge force the "right" strategy to be intentionally missing putts. You get punished for playing good golf rather than being rewarded or just being able to strategize your play.

You know I had the same question. But the

answer I got (or answers) just confused me more. I think Jay said that R&C; were out there over an hour, and the Ash's out for only 45 minutes until Ashley collapsed. Given they were only a minute or two apart after the clue mishap, that would mean that the Ash's could have won if the putts had fallen. Ash's drive was short between tee and green, whereas R&C;'s was long around the trees. However, I believe it was Parker who said the opposite about timing. Oh well...who knows? Peach was positive that he and Jay would have played to the strategy of missing putts when required. You should listen to his interview - he was sure that Rob and Charlotte screwed up by not thinking straight. Although he was careful to say how smart they both are - he's such a sweet man - such a "peach" (okay, that was really bad ) I sure loved talking to every one of the contestants - they really are very nice people and all so different. I hope they do many more HW 18's so we can meet them again in a reunion show like they did with BB. I am sure they'll learn a lot from the show and I bet you anything, they are reading this forum to learn from fans as well. Now...off to Big Break Michigan - 4 interviews set up for next week! Gayle